Mark Hensby shoots 3-under 67 with only three pars Thursday at U.S. Senior Open

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Mark Hensby made seven birdies over the first nine holes Thursday at the U.S. Senior Open, and even after the greens at the Broadmoor and the major-championship conditions caught up with him, he left the course with the early first-round lead.

The Aussie finished the day at 3-under 67, good for a one-shot lead over Bob Estes, Thomas Bjorn and three others with the morning rounds wrapping up and the afternoon wave hitting the course.

Miguel Angel Jimenez was part of a group of six that shot 69.

It was Hensby who spent the entire morning in the lead, though after he signed his scorecard, he hardly looked like a player winning the U.S. Open.

“Obviously, I felt like I lost some out there,” he said. “It’s just frustrating. I played like (expletive) the back nine. What else can you say?”

Hensby finished with a pair of bogeys, each coming after drives that missed the fairway and landed in rough that is thick — but not Oakmont thick, and not the biggest problem at this course nestled at the base of Cheyenne Mountain.

“There’s so much slope, and it all comes off the mountain — most of the time,” Hensby said. “Sometimes it doesn’t. But the greens were softer today, so it kind of made it a little bit easier, and probably not as fast as they can get.”

A big storm Tuesday dumped water all over the course, but drier conditions are expected for the weekend. When the tournament was last played here in 2018, David Toms won with a score of 3 under par.

Hensby reached 6 under after making birdie on the par-5 ninth — traditionally one of the easier holes. It would be no surprise if he’s the first and last player to reach that number.

“The biggest thing is the greens,” said Shane Bertsch, a native of nearby Denver who was part of the group at 1 under. “The greens are very, very severe. You can’t ram at any putts. You’re always kind of guessing a little bit because of all the mountain break and everything.”